DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/01207/B Applicant: Mr Robert Mathewson Proposal: Creation of parking area within part of front garden and associated works Site Address: Woodcroft New Road Laxey Isle Of Man IM4 7HS Planning and Enforcement Assistant: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Refused Date of Recommendation: 24.12.2019 _________________________________________________________________ Reasons for Refusal R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons - R 1. The proposal would unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building and the character of its surroundings which is against policies GP2, EP36 and the policies within the local area plan. - R 2. The proposal would be unacceptable with regards to highway safety as there would be insufficient visibility for drivers of vehicles emerging from the parking space and the space would be too narrow to satisfactorily accommodate a typical modern day car. As such the proposal is against policy GP2 and the Manual for Manx Roads. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):

"Woodside" New Road, Laxey as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018). _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Woodcroft, New Road, Laxey which is a one half of a pair of semi-detached dwellings which is situated to the north west of Laxey. - 1.2 The property is defined by the yellow brick to the front elevation with red brick details, bay windows and the front garden and yellow brick walling to the front.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval to create a parking area to the front section of the property. This parking space will include the removal of the yellow stone wall to the front and side elevations alongside the current staircases to the property and rear garden to create a space measuring 7.644m by 2.4m prior to the staircase entrance and 6.744m by

• 2.4m with the staircase entrance. The proposed parking area is to be block paved with grass to the area directly under the bay window. There is also the creation of two new piers which are to be made by re-using the existing yellow brick. PLANNING HISTORY
• 3.1 The property in question only has one previous planning application which was for the "Approval in principle for the erection of a dwelling, land to the rear of Woodcroft, New Road, Laxey" and was Refused. PLANNING POLICY
• 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Laxey and Lonan Local Plan 2005, Laxey Map. The Laxey and Lonan Local Plan 2005 has a policies which is relevant to this assessment, specifically L/RES/PR/14 and L/TP/PR/1.

• 4.1.1 L/RES/PR/14 which states "4.82 In the interests of conserving the traditional character and appearance of the area the Department will adopt a flexible approach to the requirement for car parking in association with existing property inasmuch as where it is possible to provide car parking for the use of the building concerned the Department will expect the provisions of parking for residents in the case of residential property and staff and customers in the case of commercial property. However, where the provision of car parking would be detrimental to the appearance or character of the area, car parking standards may be relaxed."
• 4.1.2 L/TP/PR/1 which states "6.8 Whilst traffic management will generally be encouraged throughout the area plan area, no scheme will be approved where this is detrimental to the natural character of the rural part of the study area or the character or appearance of the Conservation Area."

4.2 The property is not within the Laxey Conservation Area but is directly next to it and as such it is relevant to consider Environment Policy 36 which states "Where development is proposed outside of, but close to, the boundary of a Conservation Area, this will only be permitted where it will not detrimentally affect important views into and out of the Conservation Area." - 4.3 Given the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 which states "Development which is in accordance with the landuse zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:

• b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape;

• g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;
• h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;
• i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways."

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Garff Commissioners have considered the proposal and have no objection but have stated "The Commissioners had no objection to these proposals, and defers to the expertise of the Highways Officer assessing this application" (24.11.19).

5.2 Highway Services have raised an objection to the application (2.12.2019) stating;

"The proposed parking area does not provide adequate visibility so that a vehicle can exit in a safe manner. The Development proposals show visibility splays in the region of 22m in both directions but the boundary wall of the adjacent neighbours appears to obstruct this line of sight. The visibility splays appear to run outside of the red boundary therefore could not be conditioned and or maintained. Furthermore, the parking space is considered to be too narrow to accommodate a typical modern day car in terms of a driver being able to exit the car safely as vehicles are passing by.

The Development fails to meet the requirements as set out in the Manual for Manx Roads in terms of a satisfactory access arrangement. It is not considered acceptable from a road safety aspect having an unacceptable effect on road safety and traffic flows on the local highway network."

5.3 The owners of "Woodside," New Road, Laxey have also written in to object about the proposal (4.12.19). "Woodside" is the directly adjoining semi-detached house and the character of the property would be removed if the yellow brick wall was removed. They have also raised a point regarding the owner of "Woodcroft" owning more than one vehicle and as such the creation of 1 space will not help the congestion and that to get the visibility splay within the application they would have to remove their gate, pillars and wall which they do not give permission for. They are also concerned about the removal of the wall and stairs which might cause a detrimental effect on the structural integrity of their property.

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of the planning application are the potential impacts of the proposal on the character and appearance of Woodcroft and Highway Safety.

6.2 Character and Appearance of Woodcroft

• 6.2.1 The Department has recently published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which addresses the visual amenity of the additional car parking space stating "Proposals which result in the loss of more than 50% of the existing front lawned/landscape garden will not normally be supported, to ensure the character of the street scape is retained and avoid frontages of properties appearing as one large car parking area, detrimental to the appearance of the street scene and to the outlook of residents."
• 6.2.2 The Laxey and Lonan Local Plan also states "Whilst it may be desirable to provide more parking spaces within the area, it will be difficult to provide these whilst still trying to retain the character of the area and it may be more realistic to try to retain and enhance what is already provided."
• 6.2.3 With the above in mind how the property is viewed within the streetscene is an import part of any application and especially in this case where there are only the two properties. The frontage of the property at the moment has shrubbery and hedging and whilst it is not a noticeable trait it is still an attractive one when viewed directly. The loss of this shrubbery and hedging to make way for a parking space would be against the Residential Design Guidance.
• 6.2.4 It is also recognised that the two properties are outside of the Laxey Conservation Area but directly next to it as such the remove of the wall would be detrimental to the overall

streetscene as the yellow brick walls are a defining feature of the property and therefore the removal of the walls would impact how the property is viewed overall.

6.3 Highway Safety

• 6.3.1 The Department has recently published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which addresses Highway Safety and in particular the movement of people, "Consideration needs to be given to the movement of people and vehicles entering and leaving the driveway/access. The following advice should be considered:

• o To allow good visibility splays for cars leaving the driveway, vegetation or other features such as gates, pillars and walls should not be over 1m high within the required visibility splay (see Manual for Manx Roads to determine required visibility splay); and
• o Cars should not overhand the pavement, should not block the entrance to the dwelling and a clear pathway should be provided at the entrance to the dwelling.

• 6.3.2 Highway safety is not something which can be taken lightly wherever the parking is going to be. One of the main issues raised by Highway Services is that there would not be enough space for the driver of the vehicle to exit the vehicle safety. The space itself given for either the driver or a passenger to get out of the car is minimal, and in whichever case the driver/passengers would have to be going into the drainage/ concrete verge and whilst this has not been put down as part of the roadside I am mindful that it would be used as the road and is still dangerous, especially at the speed that is likely along this road.
• 6.3.3 When looking at the Manual for Manx Roads the parking bay size for this parking area should be 6m long by 3.2m wide. The parking space proposed is 6.744-7.644 long by 2.4m wide which means that it does not fit within the minimal sizing.
• 6.3.4 The adjacent neighbours have stated that the walling and pillars to the property are over 1 metre in height and as such they would not fit within the Residential Design Guidance (March

2019) as at a suitable height to enable a through visibility splay. The visibility splay provided would also be affected by the pillars which are not shown on the drawing.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal would unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building and the character of its surroundings which is against policies GP2, EP36 and the policies within the local area plan.

7.2 The proposal would be unacceptable with regards to Highway Safety and in particular is against policies GP2 and the Manual for Manx Roads. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
• (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
• (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
• (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and

• o whether there are other persons to those listed in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Refused Date: 02.01.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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